SACRAMENTO — California voters on Tuesday approved an increase in the state’s tobacco tax by $2 per pack of cigarettes.

California’s tobacco tax is 87 cents per pack, and it has not been raised since 1999. Proposition 56 will raise the per-pack tax to $2.87. The measure also will impose tobacco taxes on vaping products for the first time, applying to e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

The tax is expected to raise $1.4 billion a year for health care, smoking prevention programs and research.

With groups spending millions on ads for and against Prop. 56, the controversial tobacco tax has stirred many emotions for many people. KCRA 3’s Mike Luery shows what voters need to know about this tax.

Media: Uplynk

A simple majority was necessary for passage. With 26 percent of precincts reporting, Prop. 56 had opened a 62 percent to 38 percent lead despite proponents being outspent 2-1 by big tobacco.

“We had a historic coalition that included business, health care, labor, doctors and nurses, and policemen that said, ‘enough is enough.’ We need to go after the No. 1 cause of avoidable death in California,” said Tom Steyer, Yes on Prop. 56 Campaign co-chair.

Steyer, who lost his mother to lung cancer caused by smoking, spent $11.5 million on the campaign, noting that this is the first time “the Goliath of big tobacco” has been defeated in 17 consecutive attempts to raise the tobacco tax both on the ballot and in the Legislature.

“This is an overwhelming, overwhelming victory for the people of California,” Steyer said.

Research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that increasing the price of cigarettes reduces the demand for them, particularly among teens and young adults. The most common way states have increased the price of cigarettes is through tobacco taxes.

The tobacco industry took several blows in California this year, including legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown to increase the smoking age from 18 to 21. Another bill the governor signed required e-cigarettes and other vaping products to be regulated as tobacco, despite objections from the industry.

Tuesday’s vote comes four years after voters narrowly rejected a $1-per-pack increase in tobacco taxes.

Prop. 56 calls for Medi-Cal to receive the largest portion of the tax revenue — between $710 million and $1 billion in fiscal 2017-18, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. Schools will receive $20 million for prevention education. Five percent will go to the University of California for medical research of tobacco-related diseases.

Opponents of the measure, including tobacco companies and antitax groups, called Prop. 56 a “tax hike grab” by insurance companies and wealthy special interests that ignores the state’s pressing issues, like underfunded schools and a massive transportation infrastructure backlog.

A spokesperson for the No on Prop. 56 campaign declined to comment and said a statement would be issued once the results are finalized. California’s 87-cent tobacco tax ranks as the 35th highest in the country. The national average is $1.60. Prop. 56 will change California’s rank to ninth place.

As of Monday, $34,450,350 was raised in support of Prop. 56 and $71,261,707 against.